Previews

Prototype

Upon exiting the tank, Alex finished off the fight with his shape-shifting abilities; morphing his mitts into a variety of blunt and razor-sharp melee weapons, he effortlessly cut a bloody swath through the remaining enemies. Blood, limbs, and entrails filled the screen with gorgeous gory detail, leaving little doubt as to what rating the ESRB would slap on the final product. With all bad guys properly butchered, Alex raced up the side of a skyscraper, settling on the roof. From here, his arms turned into large tentacles, right before he used the slithery appendages to reel himself towards an attacking military helicopter. Within seconds he was in the cockpit, introducing its two crew members to the business ends of his infected limbs. Just as he overtook the pilot's seat, though, Zmack ended the demo, leaving our imaginations to wonder what kind of damage Mercer could do behind the controls of airborne high-tech military hardware.

Despite the tease, Zmack did share a bit more on the game, specifically on its intuitive disguise mechanics. After watching Alex morph into a soldier and infiltrate a heavily guarded area without incident, he explained this type of gameplay would serve just as well as a balls-out approach. "When you consume someone's identity you will maintain it until you consume another target. Once you consume another target, you can take on that individual's identity, but the memories -- the web of intrigue -- and the abilities, like say, being a helicopter pilot, stay with you. If you run up the side of a building with the military standing around, they'll be like 'that's not right', and your threat meter will increase; at yellow you're being watched... they don't necessarily think you're Alex, but they're watching you. Based on your activities, it'll start to rise; when it goes to red they're recognizing you're Alex. If it stays red for a period of time, they call in a strike team -- helicopters, tanks, military start to arrive at that particular area, and that's when you'll need to use a disguise to bring things down."

The over-the-top action, cut with quieter disguise-driven moments, holds serious potential for engaging gameplay. Add to that Prototype's stunning visuals, 7.1 audio capabilities, and a twisty conspiracy yarn unfolding in a detail-drenched New York City, and they've got our attention. Now, if only Activision would place a gamepad in our palms and allow us to get our hands dirty as Alex.